As if the stakes weren't already high enough for the University of Charleston football team's Thursday showdown with No. 4 Shepherd, the Golden Eagles' season-opening stumble makes that contest even more important.
UC wants to make its second straight NCAA Division II postseason. Yet, out of the seven teams selected from Super Region I last season, only one made it to the playoffs with two losses. If Charleston wants to keep those playoff hopes on solid footing, it can't afford to fall to 0-2.
Of course, that challenge comes against the 2015 Division II national runners-up, and UC coach Pat Kirkland has to rally his team to face the Rams following a 44-17 loss at Notre Dame College last Saturday.
"They watched the film," Kirkland said. "They saw the mistakes and know what corrections need to be made. We've had a good week thus far, and I hope it continues."
Aside from allowing 259 yards and three touchdowns passing plus 92 yards and a touchdown rushing to NDC quarterback Malik Grove, the Golden Eagles were troubled by turnovers. UC lost three fumbles and threw one interception against the Falcons. Notre Dame turned those four turnovers into 17 points.
Meanwhile, UC's offense, which led the Mountain East with 41.1 points per game last season, could never get rolling.
"The whole first half, someone was looking for the big play to happen, and it never popped for us," Kirkland said. "We're so used to some of our playmakers on offense stepping up and getting a little bit of momentum, and we just weren't able to do that."
Turnovers were a problem for Charleston in last season's loss at Shepherd. Four interceptions turned into 17 points in a 45-25 setback in Shepherdstown. Kirkland said players and staff are fully aware of the risk that comes with handing the ball back to a team as good as the Rams.
"It has been something we've been working on daily and dedicating more time to ball security," Kirkland said. "As a coaching staff, we need to do a better job of preaching that throughout practice and film study."
Even though Charleston struggled in its season opener, Shepherd coach Monte Cater isn't about to dismiss the Golden Eagles as a threat. He knows the risk of taking too lightly a team of UC's athletic ability and skill.
"We're going to face what I thought was the best team on our schedule," Cater said, "and I still do."
The Rams got a spirited challenge from West Virginia Wesleyan in their season opener last Saturday. The Bobcats actually led the defending MEC champs 9-6 in the second quarter before the Rams pulled away for a 27-12 win. Quarterback Jeff Ziemba, the 2015 MEC offensive player of the year, completed 21 of 28 passes for 315 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while Shepherd's defense held Wesleyan to 275 yards of total offense, including 75 yards rushing.
The stakes remain high for Cater's club, too. No one in the MEC can afford two losses. He quipped Tuesday that only the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference can feel comfortable in expecting multiple postseason bids. Cater knows the Golden Eagles have to rebound.
"I'd be real surprised if there wasn't going to be some fire coming out," Cater said. "We're going to have to meet that with some enthusiasm and everything on our part as well."
Kirkland doesn't want to pose all-or-nothing scenarios to his team just two games into the season, but UC does understand that it has to improve if it hopes to build on its inaugural Division II postseason berth last year.
"I said, hey, we need to learn from this," Kirkland said, "because we are a talented football team. But we need to get better with a tremendous sense of urgency. One game isn't going to define your season, but it definitely puts you in a position where you're up against the wall a little bit."